A game of thrones but Catlyn does not capture Tyrion
by altegro
Summary: Tyrion makes it to the Red Keep and is put on a fair trial by Eddard Stark. Will Robert live? Or will nothing change?
1. Tyrion's trial

Catlyn

She had wanted to imprison the imp when she saw him but then had remembered that her husband and daughters were still in the Red Keep surrounded by Lannister men. She will never be able to forgive herself if her actions led to her children being harmed.

She had pulled up her hood to hide her face and left the Inn before the Imp could spot her.

She had to reach Winterfel, station 200 men at Moat Cailin, and prepare the castles and houses of the north for war as Ned had asked her to do.

Tyrion

Tyrion did not even have the chance to change his clothes before he was accused of murder by Lord Stark. The winter Lord proceeded to escort him with 3 of his guards to the small council chamber to await the King's justice.

Tyrion went quietly as the Lannister men saw Lord Eddard take him. Lord Stark was known as a just and honorable man and Tyrion doubted that he could prove him guilty for a crime he did not commit.

At the table of the small council chamber sat 5 men, Littlefinger, Pycelle, Varys, Robert's brother Renly, and the King who sat at the head of the table.

"Why did you bring Tyrion into this room?" the King asked his hand.

"He has been accused by my wife of conspiring to murder my son Brandon."

"This is an outrageous accusation my Lord." grandmaster Pycelle croaked.

"Tyrion is many things but I do not know him to be a man who would hire assassins to kill children," Tyrion gave Renly a grateful smile as a wordless thanks to Renly for defending him.

"Do you have any proof Lord Eddard?" Ser Barristan asked in his deep booming voice.

"Aye, I have the dagger the assassin used but as I am not allowed to bear arms in the presence of the King I left it with the captain of my guard outside the small council chamber. With your permission your grace, I would like to bring the dagger inside to present the evidence to you."

"You may bring the captain of the guard into this room with this dagger." The King said.

"Thank you your Grace."Lord Stark turned to ser Barristan.

"Lord Commander, please escort Jorey Cassel into the small council chamber."

"As you say my Lord." Ser Barristan repled

Ser Barristan left the room and returned with a man who was about as tall as Lord Stark. His chiseled face looked as if it were carved from stone. He unsheathed the dagger; it was black steel with red rippled patterns created when the metal was folded with the aid of ancient sorcery. The dark blade was in stark contrast to its white dragon bone hilt. The dagger must have cost a fortune; _whoever gave it to the assassin must have been the dumbest person alive,_ Tyrion thought.

"This was the blade that was used to kill my son and Lord Baelish has told me the dagger belongs to Tyrion Lannister." Tyrion was outraged that Lord Eddard would think him stupid enough to give that expensive dagger to a catspaw. The Lannisters had gold not valyrian steel.

"That is preposterous! The dagger does not belong to me and even if it did I would never give it to an assassin. Maybe the Starks have forgotten how rare valyrian steel is but in the real world that dagger is worth a fortune." Tyrion said defending himself.

"I'm uncertain whether or not you sent the assassin but if you deny that you owned this dagger you are calling into question the integrity of Lord Petyr Baelish. I would remind you that lying to the King and the King's hand is a crime punishable by death.'

Littlefinger cracked his neck, nervous. _He had lied and he knows it_ Tyrion thought. Tyrion thought back on his history lessons on the dance of the dragons. The Starks were known to be rather fond of using their Valyrian steel greatsword to behead people. Tyrion wondered if Lord Eddard practiced more restraint than his ancestor or if Varys and Pycelle would be dead if Lord Stark was King.

"So do you Tyrion of house Lannister solemnly swear by your Gods and King Robert of house Baratheon to tell the truth."

"I swear-"

Jaimie barged into the small council chamber. _The fool!_ Tyrion thought. He is going to get himself killed.

"Why has Lord Stark abducted my brother?" Jaimie demanded.

Lord Barristan stood, his irritated face showed no signs of discomfort in using his old legs.

"Why have you left your station without my leave!" the Lord Commander asked Jaimie.

"My apologies your grace, I came here on the Queen's orders." Jaimie lied

"You are only to obey the King and your Lord Commander not the Queen." Lord Stark's eyes looked like grey ice as he stared at Jaimie.

"Silence we have accused his brother of murder let him have his say in the matter." The King saved Jaimie's life with those words as he was sure Lord Stark was about to have Ser Barriston execute him for disobedience. Ser Barriston sat down.

"As you say your grace." Lord Eddard did not look too happy as he said that. He turned toward Tyrion

"Swear it by the seven that the words you speak are true." Lord Eddard ordered him. Tyrion thought the question was pointless; who would ever refuse to swear by the seven and profess feigned honesty?

"I swear it by the seven that I speak only the truth. That dagger does not belong to me and I did not send an assassin to kill your son. I am in fact, very fond of your son and wish nothing but the best for him." Tyrion spoke truthfully but he had no reason to believe that Lord Eddard knew he was honest.

Brandon Stark had also saved his life in Winterfel but he wondered if Lord Stark would take the dire wolf attack as divine verification of Tyrion's guilt.

"By denying ownership of the dagger Tyrion lannister is calling into question the integrity of Petyr Baelish a member of the small council-"

"I know who that dagger belongs to."Jaimie spoke up interrupting Lord Stark

"It belongs to Robert of house Baratheon King of the Andals, the Rhoynar and the first men!." Lord Stark turned to the King when Jaimie finished.

"This is an outrageous accusation!"Pycelle exclaimed.

Littlefinger remained silent. Surely he knew whose dagger it was all along. Ser Barriston looked to the King for a response and was hoping for the order to take Jaime's head.

"Yeah that bloody dagger belongs to me. I took it from Littlefinger when he bet that Jaime Lannister will unhorse Loras Tyrell in the tourney. I told Jaimie that was the first time in my life that I was happy to have such a shit warrior in the King's guard." Lord Stark was shaken by the revelation. A storm of rage brewed behind his stoic face.

"I know you didn't do it your grace." Lord Stark with a foolish confidence considering how different the man he fought beside and the King he sits beside were. But Tyrion could not think of a reason why Robert would want Brandon dead.

The King stood up and so did everyone in the small council."Of course I did not send anyone to kill him!"

The King walked over to Lord Stark and grabbed his shoulders."You are my brother and your son is my nephew. I would never want him to come to harm."

Lord Eddard did not look reassured.

"I believe you your grace." he said Looking into the King's eyes.

His gaze then turned to Littlefinger. "You lied to me."

Tyrion wondered why Littlefinger let him walk into the city when he surely knew this would be the result of this trial.

Jaimie

Not for the first time in his life Jaimie Lannister was glad Eddard Stark wasn't his King. Robert and Lord Stark were so unlike each other that it was hard to believe they were brought up by the same man.

When the King's hand had called for Littlefinger's head, Robert had refused him saying he would never kill a man for defending the King's honour. The King's hand was glaring at the King incredulously when Ser Barristan ordered Jaimie to leave. Lord Stark was top dog in Winterfel but in King's landing he was just another member of the pack and he wasn't used to people questioning his judgment.

"Why do you think he did it?" Tyrion asked Jaimie as he waddled beside him.

"Maybe he thought Lord Stark would not believe him if he told the truth."

"But why did my name come out of his mouth?"

Yes, that could have put Tyrion's life in danger. Jaimie might have even helped the King's hand behead Littlefinger for that lie but he knew the person who sent the catspaw. There was no other likely culprit, the assassin was armed with Robert's dagger and other than Jaimie himself no other person wanted Bran dead and soon enough, sooner than Jaimie liked, Lord Stark would know the truth. And Jaimie would have to kill him.

"Maybe he thought Lord Stark would be too afraid to punish a man from such a powerful house." It was the best explanation Jaimie could think of.

Tyrion laughed before replying.

" House Westerling might be afraid of the Lannisters but the Starks are more likely spit in our faces. We have gold yes but the mines of Casterly Rock will run dry before we breach the walls of Moat Cailin and marching through the Crannog man's swamp is suicide. Stark allies surround all but our southern borders. What I'm saying is I think Littlefinger wants to start a war and he probably sent the assassin."

"But if he wanted to start a war between Starks and Lannisters why did he use a valyrian steel dagger instead of a dagger with the golden head of a lion as it's pommel?"

Tyrion stopped in his tracks, stumped by the question. Jaimie knew he would find out soon who really sent the catspaw and he hoped Tyrion won't betray him.

"Well, tell our sweet sister that I am glad she sent you, I'm going back to my apartment." Tyrion turned and left.

Cercei had, of course, not sent Jaimie to Tyrion's rescue. Jaimie had to lie in order to avoid Ser Barristan's wrath. Cercei hated their little brother and blames him for taking the life of their mother.

When he reached the King's chamber he entered to find Cercei, Looking out over the balcony at the garden, wearing a fine silken dress that did not hide much.

"Cercei," he called out. He did not want people in the garden to see him talking with his sister in her room.

"Can you believe the Starks worship these trees?"

"I will cut down the trees if they are bothering you." Cercei shook her head in order to say no as she walked into the room.

"What happened to our sweet brother?" Cercei inquired out of obligation but not love.

"It would seem he was caught for your crime." Cercei blinked Looking confused when Jaimie said that.

"My crime?" Her voice had all the innocence of a maid.

"Someone sent a man to kill the boy. It wasn't me, so it must be you." She slapped him.

"I never wanted to harm the boy; you are the one who has his blood on your hands not me."

"Are you sure you _never_ wanted to harm the boy? What if the boy told Lord Stark what he saw?"

"The poor child probably didn't know what he saw. We could have told him it was just a game or we could have scared him or we could have bribed him with candy." She was irritated by his actions that day but had no concern about the child when she talked.

Jaimie grabbed her hand and pulled her close.

"I'm afraid it's too late to think about what could have been." he said as he stripped the clothes from his sister's body. Cercei rolled onto her bed with her pink nipples stiffening and a thin smile on her lips and waited for Jaimie to get out of his armour.

Robert returned later in the afternoon in a black rage escorted by Ser Barristan Selmy and Ser Aerys Oakheart. As he walked towards Cercei's chamber Jaimie wondered if Robert knew all along and whether he had pushed Bran off the tower for no reason.

He thought back on how high the tower Bran climbed was and how he had beaten the shit out of heavily padded Tommen. He would have made a good knight if he hadn't climbed that day.

Robert walked past Cercei's Chamber, his face red from rage and wine. Robert walked to Joffrey's room and from within that room came silence. Meryn trant and the hound stood outside the prince's Chambers alongside Ser Barristan Selmy and Ser Aerys Oakheart. The silence was broken by Joffrey's shouting which was ineligible to Jaimie's ear. Then the lashing of a whip and Joffrey screamed. Cercei ran out of her chamber and into Joffrey's chamber. Jaimie wanted to follow, he wanted to slay the fat King, but he was stopped from entering the room by Ser Barristan.


	2. The calm before the storm

Eddard

Vayon Poole entered Eddard's new chamber. Ned had moved to Jorey Cassell's apartment after quitting his position as hand of the King and leaving the tower of the hand.

"My Lord" the steward called out. Ned looked up, expecting good news.

"I found a vessel that leaves in three days my lord."

"Tell the captain I will give him a Valyrian steel dagger if he leaves on the morrow."

"I will do so at once my Lord." He bowed as he left the room.

As Vayon Poole left Eddard stared at the massive tome that sat at the left end of his table. The histories and lineages of the great houses of Westeros it was called, and within its pages was the reason for Jon Arryn's murder. Ned didn't like leaving that as a mystery but now he knew it was one of the Lannisters, or could Robert have done it? Maybe the fat King grew tired of Jon Arryn's counsel. Ned Stark knew he was tired of counseling the King.

It was a battle to make the King lock up his master of coin. Pycelle, Renly and the King, wanted to pardon Littlefinger. Varys was silent. Littlefinger had no real talent for making money, his only talent was to borrow and everyone in that room knew it, yet Pycelle and Renly both sang praises of how he could conjure money out of thin air. Littlefinger spoke at the end and claimed that he was irreplaceable, that no one else in the seven kingdoms is as well acquainted with the iron bank as he was. Ned was about to resign when Robert finally decided to send Petyr Baelish out of the small council chamber, instead of having him arrested as Ned suggested which compromised Ned's authority among the members of the small council.

Then came the battle Ned never thought he would have to fight and that battle had made him resign from his position as hand of the King.

The Targaryen girl was always going to become pregnant. If it wasn't a Dothraki Khal it would have been a traveling merchant. Yet the King seemed to believe that one child from her womb would end his reign. The small council was not helpful at convincing the King to spare the girl, only Ser Barristan spoke against the murder of that child. The small council was so full of heartless men that Ned even began to think the Lannisters may have been innocent of Jon Arryn's murder. None of the men in that room would think twice about poisoning Jon Arryn if they thought he was hindering their agenda.

Darkness began shrouding his apartment, Vayon Poole had come and gone informing him that the ship would leave tommorow morning if he paid them with the dagger and a hundred gold dragons. Afterwards his daughters came to ask him about his day before they went to sleep. Arya was happy when she heard that they were leaving but Sansa was more morose. Ned felt bad for her. She had gained nothing from her journey here but the death of her beloved dire wolf. At least Arya had found a sword Master, Syrio Forel.

The next morning there was a knock on the door as Ned prepared to leave for Winterfel.

"Open the damn door Ned." Ned wondered if the King had come to take his head as he had vowed to do so the day before. The King was flanked by Ser Barristan Selmy and Ser Arys Oakheart.

"Damn you to hell Ned." The King said as Eddard opened the door. "I dismissed my master of coin from the small council chamber for you and you dishonored me by throwing away the title I gave you!"

"If you keep a lying man in your council, eventually he is going to put a knife to your throat." Ned replied.

"All men lie, I know you don't so don't start. If I throw every liar into a dungeon I won't have a kingdom to rule."

"It's not about stopping them from lying it's about sending a message. If a man can lie to me and get away with it then I am no longer a man that commands respect in your small council, and a man that isn't respected cannot be hand of the King." Ned replied

"Then take your damn respect," he held out an outstretched hand. In it he held a parchment ordering the arrest of Petyr Baelish."And take this as well." Robert pinned the badge of the hand on Ned's shirt. That only made Ned angry and they began arguing about the Targaryan girl Robert wanted to kill.

Littlefinger

Petyr could not believe he had been arrested. He had always made the fat fool happy. Whenever Robert would ask for coin Baelish would have it and the King never bothered asking where he got the money from. Everyone liked Littlefinger and everyone had defended Baelish but the King's word was final. He did not expect the King to value Ned Stark so much that Robert would throw Petyr in a dungeon.

He could've had Tyrion abducted before he reached King's Landing of course, but Varys betrayed Petyr and did not inform him about Tyrion's arrival. So now he has been imprisoned by some fool drunk on power and wine.

_The game of thrones is tough to play when you don't have an army. _Petyr reflected silently in the solitude of his cell._ I made one mistake and now I'm about to lose my head._ _Lord horse face could make mistakes if he wanted to, men would line up to forgive him and women would spread their legs wide open if he asks. They did that for Brandon. What reason did Hoster Tully have to give her to Brandon other than the fact that his father was a great Lord? She clearly was in love with me. _Petyr remembered the face Catlyn made when she first saw the womanizer from Winterfel and realized he was lying to himself.

He then remembered that Eddard was the opposite of Brandon in everything but his face and height. Where Brandon howled with laughter and hooted at women, the Lord of Winterfel would stand there silent, sulking, judging and unforgiving. Yet Catlyn loved the man all the same. When she met Eddard at the brothel she wasn't giddy with excitement or lust the way she was when she first saw Brandon. The love she had for Eddard was different, the stone man that stood before her seemed to take all her worries away.

_I could have been your stone man Catlyn, I would have been your wild wolf. _Baelish thought, deluding himself.

Eddard's eyes never smiled when he saw Catlyn though, the man never smiled. Never so much as grinned at anyone's jokes, not even Robert could make the man laugh and yet Robert threw Petyr into a dungeon for him.

Janos Slynt walked into his cell as Petyr lay on the floor of his dungeon writing stories in his mind about how his life would be different if he was a man of higher birth.

"My Lord I bring news from the castle." Janos said causing Petyr Baelish to sit up.

"Why do you bother? I have no power anymore." Petyr wanted an honest answer from Janos that could actually be believable. He did not want to hear anything that wasn't related to gold.

Janos Slynt walked closer and began speaking in a hushed voice so that no one else in the dungeon could hear what he said.

"Eddard Stark may have been given power by the King but the men don't like him. He's cut the pay of the Gold Cloaks and fired twenty three of our gaolers."

_Ned the fool, he needs the City Watch but he gave them back to me._

"Go to my castle in the Fingers and take as much of my gold as you can. The small council cannot be allowed to find it." The gold in his castle was proof of the gold laundering he did and the joyless stone man would find out about it soon, _if he bothered to read the accounting book_.

"My Lord, the hand has already sent men to claim you treasures." _Damn it I thought the man didn't like to read. _Petyr hoped Stark would be as slow at finding out about the money laundering as he was at realizing that Cercei's children were bastards. _I mean they look nothing like Robert. I did not even need the book to realize they were not Robert's children._

When Petyr first saw the book on Eddard's table he was sure that Eddard would know the truth soon enough, but soon days turned to weeks and the man still did not see the glaring truth. The only reasonable explanation was that Stark did not like reading.

Baelish told Janos Slynt to send a message to Lysa and to request an audience with Cercei.

Catlyn's beloved Ned stopped by the dungeon to meet him a later that day. His eyes were like grey stone and full of contempt.

"I was only going to keep you here for a few days, I had to arrest you. I can't tolerate dishonesty even though I know you meant well." Eddard said in the dry monotone voice that made Catlyn's womanhood wet.

"So, have you come to release me?" Baelish asked with his best smile even though he knew the answer Ned Stark was going to give.

"No, I asked Vayon Poole to look at your account book and we have found that you had misappropriated the Crown's coin." _I knew the oaf didn't read, he had someone else do it for him._

At the beginning Jon Arryn checked his account book and Littlefinger kept his records clean with not a single copper unaccounted for, but eventually the Crown's dept kept getting bigger and Jon Arryn stopped caring and Petyr got lazy and stopped covering up his unsanctioned spending.

"What will be my punishment Lord Stark?" Petyr asked.

"You can either choose to be executed or you can take the black." Eddard replied with his cold, stern face. _She'll never love you as much as she loved Brandon _Petyr thought

"Well although it would be an honor to be executed by Lord Eddard Stark I would rather go to the frozen hell up North." Baelish said smiling. Arresting Petyr Baelish was a mistake of course, he had big friends, he did not tell Lord Stark that though. Petyr Baelis was afraid Eddard Stark might even laugh at him if Petyr tried to reason with the warden of the north.

"You chose well my Lord." Lord Eddard said before he left the dungeon.

Baelish dreamt of Sansa that night. He dreamt of burying his face in her luxuriant and soft auburn hair that was so similar to her mother's. How Lord horse face made such a pretty daughter he would never know.

Tyrion

It had been a week since his sister had sent for Tyrion and told Jaimie and him that Lord Stark knew that her children were bastards. Apparently Littlefinger had told her that the hand of the King planned on exposing their children's bastardy from the confines of his cells in hope of a royal pardon in return for this information. Tyrion did not like the idea of pardoning Littlefinger, if he knew about the scheme, he was likely a part of it until Eddard decided to throw him into a dungeon. His Lord father Tywin, however, is a man that rewarded men that betrayed his enemies, however late into the conflict it might be.

If the information Littlefinger gave was true, the Lannisters would have to act now, maybe with poison or a crossbow. But if the information was false, killing Ned will just bring down the wrath of the King. The big man already suspects Joffrey for hiring the catspaw and he might suspect Cercei for the untimely death of his beloved Ned, which meant he might disown Cercei's children. Tyrion knew he would. All the thinking Tyrion could do did not matter as Lord Tywin had already decided what to do for the three siblings. The plan is to prepare silently and wait.

Tyrion hated Cercei and Joffrey but could not forgive himself if any harm were to befall Tommen and Myrcella. So Tyrion began working tirelessly to ensure they had more men than Lord Eddard in the Red Keep. He had hired a dozen sell swords and talked with Baratheon bannermen about prince Joffrey. Most of the men seemed unaware but some talked of how the boy looked nothing like his father. He paid the clueless ones to run errands for him in the river lands. He dispatched twenty men that way.

Next Tyrion went to talk to the low ranking Stark man next and found that they proclaimed undying devotion to Joffrey rather easily. They could never be sent away from Lord Stark's side but when he offered them gold dragons in exchange of promising to never lift a sword against the prince they took it casually as if it were silvers. He thought he was doing well with the north men until one remarked with a serious face, that he now had enough gold to buy a turnip in winter. That's when he realized the gold was wasted on the north men. When Tyrion asked a north man if he would swear fealty to Joffrey on a heart tree, he replied that there are no heart trees in King's Landing.

There were fifty Lannister men in King's Landing and Tyrion had ensured the loyalty of one hundred goldcloaks with gold. Over the last three days his father had sent twenty of his men to the red keep in small groups to avoid raising suspicions. There were one hundred and eighty two men loyal to the Lannisters at King's Landing. and if they had one more week there would be two hundred and twenty two.

Eddard

Ned had named Vayon Poole as temporary master of coin. While Ned was not hand of the King, Robert had decided to hire a faceless man to kill the poor girl and now the crown was seven million gold dragons in dept, a million golden dragons more than just the day before.

Vayon Poole had started writing letters to the Lords and Ladies of the Seven Kingdoms informing them that their taxes will be increased henceforth. He also cut the pay of the City Watch and fired unnecessary employees. Vayon Poole has predicted that the crown will be debt free in about fifteen years if Robert doesn't throw extravagant tourneys every month.

Tyrion Lannister had sought an audience with Eddard once Robert had gone hunting. He came in saying how sorry he was for the loss of Benjen then proceeded to talk about the wall and how it needed men and repairs.. Ned had heard his words before. They were the same words Geor Mormont used when Ned visited the wall with Benjen and they were the same words Yoren had used yesterday to ask for more men.

Tyrion put forth his own ideas next. Tyrion wanted to transform the Night's Watch from a prison to a three year compulsory service for all men in the Seven Kingdoms. Eddard Stark only told him that it would not be possible to Tyrion Lannister's confusion.

"If you allow men to leave the Night's Watch, you will allow hundreds of rapists and murderers to return to the realm and if you don't allow them to return with the rest of the men they served, they will get angry. Those men's talent for violence is better suited at the wall." Eddard said trying to explain why Tyrion's plan won't work.

"But your son would be able to come back home if you accept my proposal." Tyrion said, still not understanding the reason for Ned's rejection of his plans.

Tyrion proceeded to talk about how Jon was a well mannered young man and how Robb was hot tempered when he went to Winterfel, probably because he suspected Tyrion sent the catspaw. Ned sent Tyrion away before he could distract him from his duties with more pointless talk about Ned's family.

Ned missed his family of course, but he could sense plans have been set in motion and he needed to be ready. _Many plans, too many plans all set in motion at once, Varys has a plan, Arya saw two men scheming to kill me, Pycelle has a plan and Maester Luwin has some secret too. The Maester spent his life studying the higher mysteries and forged his Valerian steel ring only to deny the existence of magic at every chance he got. Maybe Luwin knows as much as Ned, maybe he knows they can read his mind. _

Since Littlefinger had been arrested the Gold Cloaks have become more hostile towards Stark bannermen. Ned knew the cause of course, Jorey Cassel had recommended that he should keep Stark men as guards to the dungeon entrance to see who are Littlefinger's allies and they had seen Janos Slynt and the Queen enter the dungeon as well as Mandon Moore. Littlefinger had probably told the Queen about their investigation, and the Queen was probably going to set her plan into motion too. Which meant Eddard needed evidence to get the support of the Baratheon bannermen.

Luckily enough Sansa was a very observant young girl, and when she innocently told Eddard that Joffrey looked nothing like Robert, that was the moment he realized. He flipped through the pages of the big book to the Baratheon family tree to only find black haired blue eyed portraits staring back at him. Whenever the Baratheons wedded a blonde their child would always have black hair and blue eyes. _This is what I needed _Eddard realized. The Queen had Jon Arryn killed after he found out the truth by looking at Robert's bastards.

He had to tell Robert's bannermen, _but which ones to trust._ He decided to start with Thoros of Myr. He was always drinking with Robert and seemed to be a close friend. _If he were to betray me, then let Robert be damned for not making a single trustworthy friend in 15 years as King._ Ned thought

He called Jorey Cassel. "Summon Thoros of Myr to my solar." He said.

An hour later Thoros arrived dressed in red silks, he had his sword in his scabbard and carried a thick red book.

"Do you have questions about the Lord of light, Rhollor, my Lord?" He asked presenting the red book to Ned.

"No, I have questions about your loyalty to the King." Ned said bluntly.

"My Lord I am a good friend of Robert and I drink to his health every day." Thoros reminded Ned of Robert, and it was hard to doubt his loyalty.

"Good, Robert needs loyal men near him. Daggers are coming for him."

"Who are? My Lord." Thoros asked with concern in his face and voice.

"Let show you why they will try to kill him then can figure out for yourself." Ned Stark pulled out the massive tome on the lineages of the families of Westeros and flipped to the page about the Baratheons.

"Look over here, this Baratheon married this Lannister and their children have black hair. This one too." Ned pointed to more examples of where the stag bred with a blonde to produce children with black hair as Thoros watched in silence.

Thoros finally spoke after Ned was done talking. "Robert had always told me the bitch never let him touch her, I guess this was to be expected. What do you plan to do Lord Stark?"

Tyrion

When Lord Stark had sent a letter to Cercei summoniing her to the God's wood, Tyrion was certain that he had summoned Cercei with the intent of arresting her in there. Tyrion had warned Cercei to not go and had pleaded with her to wait for the Lannister men to ready for battle but Cercei had decided to trust Lord Stark. Jaime and Tyrion both had no choice but to follow her expecting an ambush, but to his surprise he found Eddard Stark all alone, sitting under a great oak. His grey eyes,usually cold and reserved, shined with empathy that day.

"Your children are not Robert's." It was a statement and not a question. To Tyrion's horror his sweet sister admitted to all of it, she had admitted to the incest before Tyrion could deny it and she had admitted to trying to kill Bran before Jaimie could challenge Lord Stark to a duel.

Apparently the reason Cercei was summoned was because Lord Eddard Stark wanted to spare them, he wanted to give her and her children the chance to flee the city before Robert returned._ The man doesn't realize what would happen if his plan fails. _Tyrion realized. In Another week or so the Lannister men would outnumber men loyal to Robert and Eddard's coup will fail and his family would suffer for it.

But then again, in another week Robert would return with old Ser Barristan at his side. Barristan was three and sixty. A maester would be glad to live to Barristan's old age but even now Tyrion thought there was a chance Ser Barristan could beat Jaime in a sword fight. He seemed like a character from the age of heroes and Tyrion would have never believed the tales of his deeds if the stories didn't come from, his Lord father, Tywin's mouth.

During the war of the nine penny Kings, Barristan won the final battle single handedly when he cut his way through the golden company and slew Maelys. He had also rescued Aerys single handedly from Duskendale and slayed two armoured guards in the process even though Barristan wore no armour. When Barristan left that night to rescue the King, Tywin had hoped that Barristan would fail and he would be able to crown prince Rheagar but Barristan had foiled Tywin's plan.

Barristan in his white cloak was like the avatar of the stranger, the face of the faith of the seven that represented death. For once the siblings of Casterly Rock agreed, Robert had to die before he could tell Barristan to kill them all.

Varys

_I'm sorry Lord Eddard, I'm a bigger ally than you can possibly know but I cannot let you win. If you win, Stannis will rule and Stannis will make the kingdom strong again. Aegon needs the kingdom to be weak. _Varys walked up to Renly's apartment and begged for an audience with the dying King's brother.

"What news do you have for me Lord Varys." Renly asked politely.

"I bring grave tidings from Dragonstone, my Lord" Varys answered looking into Renly's eyes with his own eyes full of grief. It seems your brother has taken to liking burning queers, thieves and murderers alive." He didn't know if the men he killed were queers but Renly won't know that

"I guess you have heard of my meeting with Lord Stark and have come to me to convince me to take my men and leave king's landing. Who have you told?" Renly asked while contemplating whether or not he should kill Varys.

"I didn't need to tell anyone, Lord Stark has told the queen the truth himself in a bid to save her children from Robert's wrath." Renly didn't seem surprised and instead chuckled to himself, probably because he remembered the day Lord Eddard tried to save the Targaryean girl.

"If what you're saying is true then this coup is doomed and if I return to Dragonstone my brother will burn me. Why are you trying to help me? Lord Varys."

"When I was a small child in Lys I was captured by the red priests and they cut off my genitals and burnt them. And from the fire a voice spoke." The memories came rushing back to Varys, the pain, the blood, when his manhood touched the fire he could feel the fire burning through the skin though the part had been detached from his body.

Varys stood there transfixed by the past when Renly apathetically asked.

"What did it say?" He asked with a mocking smile on his face, his blue eyes twinkling with feigned interest.

"What it said is not your concern! The point is I don't have any love for the red sorceress Stannis has with him and I would gladly see you or the Lannisters sit on the throne instead of him!" Renly was surprised to see Varys lose his composure in such a manner. Varys had an ulterior motive for wanting Stannis to lose of course, but the reason he gave was real. Tears began filling his eyes as he felt the ghost of his manhood constrict in a unnatural manner that left his head buzzing with pain for an appendage that was no longer there.

"I'm sorry I must leave." Varys said before turning to leave Renly in stunned silence.

Now that he had ensured the the Stark men would be outnumbered, Varys had to make preparations to save his life when he loses_._

Eddard

The day Ned had dreaded had finally arrived Robert was dead and he had given Eddard the regency. It was up to Eddard Stark to reinstate the rightful ruler upon the iron throne.

The day hasn't got off to a good start. Renly had taken seventy of his brother's loyal bannermen and fled King's Landing leaving Ned with only a hundred and seventy loyal men in the Red Keep. There also seemed to be a drastic increase in the number of Lannister soldiers in the red keep even though he sent his men to the gates of king's landing to keep the Lannister men out of the city. _This will be a bloodbath._ Ned thought.

He thought of his daughters who were still inside the city. He vaguely recalled telling the Lannisters that he was better than them because he doesn't kill children. The Lannister never rebuked his accusation, what has he been doing keeping the girls here Ned will never know. _I have to win. _Ned realized

Once the King had died Eddard had called for a small council meeting held in the tower of the hand. Barristan Selmy, Lord Varys and Vayon Poole were in attendance.

"What is the purpose of this meeting Lord Eddard? I have to resume my vigil at the King's funeral."Ser Barristan asked him with his face full of grief.

_Barristan will be on our side when he knows the truth and when he does the kingsguard might listen to him and make our life easier.. _Eddard thought.

"We are here to discuss the content of Robert's last letter." Eddard replied.

He passed it to Barristan Selmy for him to read

"I'm glad to hear that a man as competent as yourself will be assuming the regency." Ser Barristan said as he passed the letter to Varys.

Just after he spoke the sound of men shouting and steel clanging against steel was heard throughout the tower of the hand. Jorey Cassel came up to the meeting soon afterwards to tell them that the men were fighting.

"I must go to the King's side at once." Barristan said.

"Stay by my side Lord commander, I need a King's guard knight to take me to the King's side." Eddard replied.

"You are right your grace, I must guard you." The Lord Commander stood up to wait for Ned to wear his armour

"Vayon, explain to the Lord Commander why the men are fighting."

The men were not supposed to be fighting yet of course. But tensions flare in situations like these and it cannot be helped. Vayon Poole set the huge tome on the lineages of lordly families before Ser Barristan Selmy as Jorey Cassel helped Ned into his armour. Ned was sure Varys already knew why the fighting was taking place, but he still looked at the book as if he was intrigued by it.

"As you can see here every time a Baratheon has taken a golden haired partner in marriage, their child has had black hair and blue eyes." Vayon Poole explained. Ser Barristan's eyes lit up when he realized what Vayon Poole was trying to tell him

"Are you suggesting that the children of the Queen are bastards?."

"Yes my Lord, Tommeth send in the bastard."Vayon Poole ordered the guard The guard came back with a tall muscular boy wearing plate armour painted in Baratheon gold. In his left arm he carried a bull's horn helmet he had crafted himself and in his right he carried a war hammer. The boy was the spitting image of Robert when he was battling in the trident. Ser Barristan stood up, his mouth gaping.

"Gendry tell the Lord commander how your mother looked like." Eddard ordered him in a quiet but firm voice.

"She was blonde my Lords." Gendry said. Ser Barristan slammed his fist against the table in despair.

"If Cercei's children are bastards, is it my duty as a King's guard to put the rightful King in power or is it my duty protect the boy the King raised as his son?" Barristan's uncertainty about his duty was an unpleasant surprise to Eddard.


	3. The battle of King's landing

Barristan

Barristan thought this was a simple job when he first took it, protect the king, fight his battles and be immortalized in history, that was all Ser Barristan wanted. But of late being a King's guard has come with too many moral dilemmas. In the King's wood Robert had ordered him to not kill the boar and the boar killed the King instead and now it was revealed to him that the Queen's children were bastards. Was it his duty as a King's Guard knight to ensure that his Queen was loyal? Was it even his duty to ensure the legitimacy of his heir? It made no matter, King Robert has given Lord Eddard the regency and he has decided Joffrey is not Robert's heir. Barristan had decided to follow Eddard's orders.

_May the stranger take the life of the wicked and leave the just on this Earth for today at least._ Barristan thought. Most followers of the faith of the seven believe it to be ill luck to pray to the stranger but Barristan was taught from a young age, at harvest hall, to light a candle to the stranger before battle.

Every battle Barristan had prayed for a glorious death and every battle the stranger denied him. Today was different, today he wished to see it through.

Lord Eddard wore heavy plate armour over riveted mail which he wore over an arming jacket which he wore over a gambeson. His plate was heavy grey steel that had blood red runes painted onto it. Around his neck he wore a necklace of red werewood leaves and white werewood twigs. On his head he wore a padded coif over which he wore a riveted mail hood which was covered up by his grey steel great helm that had a rounded top. His ironwood couche shield, was painted grey, the direwolf of house Stark was painted on it in a lighter grey barely noticeable from afar. The Shield's handle went over Lord Stark's forearm. In his armour, the man looked like he was made of stone, a statue come to life.

Lord Stark had brought with him many weapons, a pole axe, a longsword, the Valyrian steel greatsword, Ice, and a war Lance but today his weapon of choice was a 8 foot tall spear that had an ironwood shaft, on one end was the spearpoint and on the butt of the spear was a steel ball, 5 foot from the spear point, the spear had a simple but stylish velvet handle where the spear was in balance. On his waist Eddard wore a one handed arming sword and a dagger with a dragon bone hilt.

Ser Barristan himself was armed with a longsword, given to him by King Aerys, a bastard sword and a dagger. He wore the resplendent white plate armour over steel scales which he wore over an arming jacket. His white great helm was worn over a padded coif. A ceremonial silk cape flowed from his shoulders.

Lord Eddard ordered Vayon Poole to guard the gigantic book on the lineages of Westeros as he left the room.

Varys was sent to sit with Eddard's daughters, septa Mordain and the girl Jeyne Poole. The older Stark girl was crying huddled together with her friend but the younger one was wearing riveted mail and wore a rapier on her waist with small helmet nearby. A bravosi man guarded the door to their room.

Gendry followed wearing his bull's head helmet. He was also wearing steel plate painted in Baratheon gold and had a ironwood Stark shield.

At the bottom of the tower, 20 Stark men waited for their leige Lord. They all carried the same ironwood spear and ironwood shield Lord Eddard had. Even the plate they wore was the same grey steel as Lord Eddard, the only difference was that their armour did not have blood red runes painted on it and none of them wore a werewood necklace.

"Jorey, take 5 men, guard the tower door. Do not open it until we return." Lord Eddard ordered with his voice that was muffled by his helmet.

"As you say my Lord." Jorey Cassel replied.

Lord Eddard took off his helmet before addressing the rest of his men.

"Men, in the name of the old gods and the oaths you swore to me before the heart tree, in the name King Stannis Baratheon the first of his name, bring down your spears upon our enemies who try and steal the Seven Kingdoms from it's rightful ruler."

His speech was solemn and cold, it was said as solemnly as if he was an executioner asking a man for his final words or a Lord sentencing someone for a crime. The lack of passion did not bother the Stark men though as they raised their polearms and made the noise in Lord Stark's stead.

The door of the tower of the hand opened, the warrior Lord of Winterfel was the first one to leave the tower. Outside, the yard swarmed with Lannister men and goldcloaks who seemed to be fighting for the Lannisters. Not a single Baratheon stag was seen save a few dead bodies.

The sight did not deter Lord Eddard though as he marched on the Lannister men who pinned down the men inside the Stark garrison. Archers fired arrows from the windows of the tower of the hand and the Stark garrison onto the Lannister soldiers below.

Barristan made the first kill. A man in full plate armor emblazoned with the Lannister lion charged Lord Eddard with a sword. Barristan unsheathed his sword, tossed it into the air and grabbed the sword by the blade going into a half swording stance. Barristan stepped forward and took a practiced swing at the poor man's head. The blade of his sword bent and sent the hilt of sword whipping forward as it straightened, in an arch towards the Lannister man's head. The man parried but the force was too great and the pommel of Barristan's long sword caved in his helmet and cracked his skull underneath. Blood gushed from the gaps and he was dead before he hit the ground.

The Stark men sort of made a phalanx as they advanced on the small Lannister force outside the garrison. Barristan did not have a shield and was outside the Stark formation but it did not matter as Barristan killed three before Lord Eddard killed his first.

Sword play is all about remembering the basic stances and counters. One man,clad in full plate armour charged him with his sword high up in the air, Barristan switched to an ox guard, parried his downward cut and countered by thrusting forward with the point of his sword precisely slipping through the sight holes in the man's helmet, killing him. A man in brigandine and gambeson used a long point guard in an attempt to keep Barristan at bay. Barristan took a wrath stance with his sword behind his head, side stepped his opponents blade and cut his left arm off, the man collapsed from blood loss.

The gruesome sight did not make any of the Stark men flinch, they were all veterans of war, the men had probably scaled the walls of Pike or may have even been Barristan's enemy at the Trident. The Lannister men and the bastard in the bull helmet were not so tried and tested however.

As the Stark phalanx advanced the men inside the garrison joined the fight and the small Lannister force was now attacked from two sides. Those who could fled but those that stayed behind were only spared if they gave up their weapons Andrew armour. The weapons that were taken were left inside the tower of the hand. A stark man had died in the skirmish and they also left one man who was stabbed who had died in the tower of the hand.

Lord Eddard had a small force of five and thirty men with him now and they advanced on the next group of Lannister men who were stabbing and jabbing with spears at a doorway. Many began running the moment they realized that they were outnumbered. The fighting was brutal and the five men at the other side of the doorway joined the fight once they saw the Stark men. Some men tried to surrender but were denied the opportunity. Eddard Stark was afraid the Lannister men would return and pick up their weapons and he did not have the troops to guard the equipment or the men that surrendered. Those that remained behind refusing to fight were executed.

It was messy work, for the first time since his first battle Ser Barristan was not drunk on glory. He noticed the smell of shit and piss that hung in the air, as he slid his sword through the throats of crying men who were begging for their life. Lord Stark somehow managed to make this act seem noble. He took the helmet off the face of the men and looked into their eyes before he slit their throats with his black Valyrian steel dagger.

Lord Stark left the skirmish with four more men than when the fighting began. Three Baratheon men had died defending the doorway and a Stark man had been stabbed in the face by a dagger through his vision slit. He was sent back on his own to the tower of the hand.

As Lord Eddard's forces continued to March, Barristan realized that the Lannister men outnumbered them, but they were spread out and disorganised. Here and there there would be a small force crowding around a door, trying to kill the Baratheon men at the other side. Lord Eddard and his men fell upon them like a grey avalanche, each skirmish left Lord Stark with more men than before.

Barristan wondered if this was how Lord Eddard won the battle of the bells. Rushing from building to building, rescuing the Baratheon men who were hiding from the forces of Jon Connington who had crushed Robert Baratheon's army in battle just days before. The singers poetically praise Robert's hammer and his strength but if the Northmen hadn't assembled and rode south to Stony Sept as swiftly as they did, Robert would be dead and Lord Eddard would have been King. And a good King he would have been. One who would not have left it to Barristan to prevent his wife's bastard from taking the throne.

The Starks and the Tullys with their thirty thousand men beat the Targaryen forces so badly at Stony Sept, which was very close to King's Landing, that Aerys Targaryen had decided to exile Jon Connington and appoint a new hand of the King.

The Baratheon men told Lord Stark that Joffrey was expecting the small council to assemble in the throne room and was huddled inside there with forty Lannister men, twenty gold cloaks, and four knights of the King's Guard. Ser Barristan expected the Queen to stay there. Twenty men would be enough to defend the room as it only had three entrances and every member of the King's Guard would know that.

As they got closer to the throne room Lord Eddard chose to avoid the main hallway and split his men up to send them through smaller corridors where the Lannister numbers were not a great advantage for them. More than once the Baratheon loyalists would emerge out of a corridor to reunite, surround and destroy a small Lannister force.

The men marched on when they met a branching narrow corridor, Lord Stark went one way with half his men and let Barristan lead the other half through the other corridor which was only wide enough for four men to stand side by side with each other.

In the narrow corridor Barristan met with a small force of Gold Cloaks, they were armed with spears which they wielded two handed. They wore riveted mail with padded gambesons underneath. Padded coif, an iron half helm and a mail hood guarded their heads. They were lead by a knight of the King's Guard. Though he wore an enameled steel great helm, his ceremonial silken cape gave away his identity as the knight who was ordered to stand vigil over King Robert Baratheon's dead body. Ser Barristan spoke to him.

"I order you to stand down." He talked to Arys Oakheart in a voice that could be heard by all the Gold Cloaks.

"The Stark men you fight with are traitors my lord." The knight answered. Ser Arys, like most of the men, had no clue of the Lannister woman's treachery. In his mind, Lord Commander Barristan is the traitor and he is the hero who is protecting the King. It was strangely comforting for Ser Barristan's to know that Arys Oakheart will die thinking of himself as a hero.

Ser Barristan had found Ser Arys to be one of the noblest of the King's Guard, which is why he chose him to stand vigil over the body of King Robert beside Barristan. When he heard of the fighting The knight must have rushed down to protect the boy he thought was his new King.

"The Stark men fight for the King, Cercei's children are bastards." As he said it Arys Oakheart gave no signs of doubting Prince Joffrey, Arys Oakheart will do his duty to the bitter end.

"I never thought I'd live to see this day Ser! You who say Jaimie had profaned his blade to slay the King now lift yours in rebellion against the King you swore to defend! WHERE IS YOUR HONOUR?"

Ser Barristan thought about his prayers to the stranger and how they never come true. For years Barristan had prayed for glorious death in battle and every battle the stranger denied him. Today he had asked the stranger to spare the righteous and take the wicked and yet here stands Ser Arys Oakheart, angry and wanting to take Ser Barristan's head

"This man is a traitor and an oathbreaker!" Arys Oakheart told the Gold Cloaks under his command and the fighting began.

Using their spears two handed gave the Gold Cloaks longer reach over the Stark men who used their spears one handed and so Barristan had to get creative to close the distance.

Barristan unsheathed his dagger with his left hand and threw it at the face of the first Gold Cloak at the right side of the corridor. The blade cut into his skull and killed him instantly. Barristan rushed into the opening of the spearwall, killed the man behind the man that just died before stabbing the man to his left in the throat. The men loyal to Eddard Stark rushed forward.

Half of Ser Arys Oakheart's men abandoned him as Ser Barristan Selmy cut down a third Gold Cloak. Ser Arys Oakheart remained undeterred however, as he used his sword in a half swording stance to smash his way through the nine men who had followed Ser Barristan into the corridor. The pommel of his sword crashed into the grey steel helmet of two Stark men. After the two men collapsed Arys ripped off the horned helm of Robert's bastard ,who was hiding behind the more battle tested men, with his left hand and prepared to stab his face with the longsword which was in his right.

Ser Barristan Selmy dived at Ser Arys Oakheart and tackled him to the ground. As he fell Arys cut off the ear off of Robert's Bastard. Ser Arys struggled violently against Barristan's grip but Barristan managed to get under Arys and expose him to the Stark Spears who had now won the skirmish.

The men stabbed at the noble knight who laid helplessly on the floor pinned down by his former mentor, friend, role model and brother. The Stark men had good spears but a knight of the King's Guard had good armour. The spears dented the steel plate but could not cause mortal harm. When they stabbed at the gaps between the armour they found steel scales protecting Ser Arys Oakheart's body. The men did not stab at the head, where the spears would be at its most effective, for fear that they might hit Ser Barristan by mistake.

Ser Arys screamed and kicked with each stab of the spear

"Stop struggling!" Ser Barristan shouted out with tears filling his eyes in a failing attempt at convincing Ser Arys to forsake his duties as a King's Guard knight.

Robert's bastard stood over Barristan now with his face covered in blood and a war hammer in his hand. He raised it up and brought it down. Ser Arys's breastplate buckled and he cried out in pain but he wasn't dead. The bastard was strong but not as strong as his father yet. He raised his hammer up high again but this time his face became that of Robert the rebel, the castle walls vanished and were replaced by rivers. Barristan had transformed into Rheagar and the hammer was coming down towards him.

_He is about to kill me!_ Barristan thought wanting to scream.

The hammer crashed down on Aerys's breastplate. _My father!_ Barristan thought, still thinking himself Rheagar Targaryen, the man he failed to protect. Ser Aerys was still alive as Robert the King brought his hammer up again. The river became Harvest Hall. King Robert transformed into a stranger wearing a white cloak, it's face covered in shadow. The hammer had transformed into a scythe and Barristan Selmy had become wheat grass.

This time the breastplate caved in and the noble Aerys stopped struggling. Blood spurted out of his helmet. Barristan returned to the real world in the Red Keep, outliving someone he cared for yet again.

The Baratheon bastard sat down, dizzy from blood loss and effort, as a man from the storm lands bandaged him.

Of the two Stark men Arys Oakheart had hoped to take to the grave with him, one had recovered with only a dent to his great helm while the other sat down next to the bandaged bastard with blood trickling down from his sturdy helmet. He still stirred though but Barristan knew he was no longer fit to fight. He and the seven men had left that were fit to fight headed for the throne room.

At first it seemed the other Baratheon loyalists hadn't reached the throne room but when Barristan looked inside he found nothing but corpses of Lannister and Baratheon men. The Baratheons were lead by Thoros of Myr, who no doubt joined Lord Stark after hearing about his friend's cheating wife. The Red Priest lay dead now, his sword lay beside him, still set aflame by his wizardry.

Eight Lannister guardsmen lay dead on the floor, the other twelve who were no doubt guarding the throne room and the bastard of Cercei were missing.


	4. the Princess and the tower

**Sansa**

Sansa sat in the bedroom of the hand of the King huddled next to Jeyne Poole, waiting for her gallant prince Joffrey to save her from whoever is attacking the castle. Jeyne was weeping but Sansa was

Jorey Cassel seemed to know the attack was on it's way before it happened though as he had seen it fit to put her in the same room as Arya and her dancing master who happened to not be a dancing master at all.

Septa Mordain was furious when she saw Arya in grey steel mail and learned the truth, that her father had decided to teach Arya swordfighting. She was about to lecture Arya but she stopped talking when Jorey handed Arya her own sword and sword belt. Arya gave the Septa a wry smile, smelling her fear.

It didn't surprise Sansa that her father would do such a thing of course. If it wasn't for the wise counsel of her mother, father would have probably brought her to the executions as well. The first men don't value the innocence of maids the same way those that worship the Seven do. Unlike the Seven, the Gods of the North were cruel, demanding blood sacrifices. They made wargs and skinchangers to cast spells and had an army of meat eating giants if any of old Nan's stories were to be believed. Sansa preferred the charming tales of the South to the horrific ones old Nan told.

It was as if Sansa was stuck in one of those southern tales today. She was the pretty princess stuck in the tower and she only wanted Prince Joffrey to find her. Her father was going to call off her marriage with him but that was only because he was mad at Robert for some reason. Now that Robert is dead Sansa was sure she could change his mind. He let Arya have her swordmaster, Sansa couldn't see why he won't let her marry Joffy?

Syrio Forrel, the last sword of Bravos or something, paced about the apartment of the hand of the King, rearranging the furniture for some reason. Jorey Cassel had come up from the tower floor to observe his work, with a level of seriousness that almost made Sansa snort.

When Arya asked Syrio what he was doing he started rambling on about how he became the last sword. He said something about a cat and how it wasn't actually a cat but he knew it was a cat. Septa Mordain rolled her eyes at the madness of the story while Jeyne and Sansa did their best to not laugh at the fool her father left to guard them.

Syrio stopped suddenly and began stomping the ground like a maniac. Sansa became afraid suddenly, remembering that he was the first sword of bravos, not the last. Sansa instinctively grabbed Jeyne's

"What do you see boy?" Syrio asked Arya.

"The floor?" Arya replied looking visibly disturbed by her master's behaviour.

"Who are you trying to fool? Remember the story I told you, this floor only looks like a floor." Syrio said, the disappointment in his face grew as Arya still did not seem to understand what he was telling her.

"It's a hidden door." Arya said as the realization donned on her.

"How did you know? Have you come across one before?" Syro said as a smile spread across his face.

Syrio Forrel bent over and ,wriggling his fingers delicately, pulled out the tile. underneath it was a black void. Sansa stood up to get a better view, she could make out wooden ladder steps in the darkness.

"How did you find it?" Arya asked him.

"You have other senses boy, the ears are the ones I use to find hidden rooms, the nose is the one I use to find poisons and common sense to find hidden faces." Syrio said as he continued stomping on the floor.

"So they sound different." Arya translated what Syrio said into words Sansa could understand.

Arya began stomping the floor, listening to the sound. Most went BANG, BANG, BANG but some went plap, plap, plap. Syrio wasn't concerned by either of those sounds. Jorey had covered the hidden door by piling overturned furniture on top of it.

Eventually Syrio declared that the room was free of more trap doors and left to check the rest of the tower. Jorey told the girls and Septa Mordain to stay in the bedroom, away from the balcony and to come find him if the the pile of furniture stirs before leaving to follow Syrio down the stairs.

It became quiet for a while after the initial fighting.

"If your father were to lose do not fear, I know where all the tunnels in the Red Keep lead, I can save you all." Varys told them in his effeminate voice. Arya didn't like the way he spoke.

"If you know all the hidden doors in the Red Keep, why didn't you help Syrio?" Her sister asked the bald man.

"Well I'm afraid your father doesn't trust me and Syrio would have checked every inch of this room even if I helped. Do not worry child, Syrio has done well without me." He says Syrio has done well but he didn't say he found all the doors. Sansa tried to push the thought aside but began to think Varys had a hidden agenda.

Varys stood up to leave the room.

"Where are you going?" Arya called after him.

"I'm going to help them seal some trap doors." Varys replied with a smile before going up the stairs to the hand's solar.

Arya left to follow him with her left hand gripping her sword tightly.

"Arya don't." Sansa called out to her sister trying to stop her sister who was eagerly disobedient.

"Sansa!" Septa Mordain called out when Sansa began to follow her sister out the door, but Sansa had made up her mind to not let Arya wander off following some strange man on her own.

Arya moved silently despite her grey steel dress so Sansa could not help but be aware of the fact that her own footsteps were painfully audible. If Varys noticed her, he did not give any sign as he continued to make his way up the tower of the hand soundlessly.

He stopped when he reached the hand's solar.

"What are you doing here?" Sansa recognized the voice as one that belonged to Vayon Poole, the loving father of her best friend Jeyne. Arya ran up the stairs now giving up on her stealthy approach, Sansa followed her up hastily as well.

"I was asked to help seal the hidden passageways in the tower of the hand." Varys replied.

"On whose orders?" Winterfel's steward asked him suspiciously.

"Why the request of Lord Stark's daughters of course" Varys turned around to gesture towards Sansa and Arya who stood behind him. Vayon Poole crossed his arms in disapproval.

"You girls are not old enough to be giving orders to grown men. Especially at a-" the steward's lecture was cut short when Varys deftly slipped past him into the solar.

"Hey get out of the solar!" Vayon tried to sound as commanding as possible but Varys didn't listen. The sisters followed Vayon as he went into the room.

"I'm helping you find the hidden doors of course." Varys replied as he kicked a stone slab at the bottom of the right wall. The slab that looked no different than any other stone brick moved and cracks began to form on the wall which was solid just seconds before. To Sansa's horror the wall began to move with a laborious rumble that shook the ground they stood on. It first moved out of the wall then grinded it's way across the ground to the left.

"Oh no!" Varys squealed as he dove to the right and revealed small men armed with knives, axes and small swords standing on the other side of the dark door.

Sansa did not know how many there were as she was too scared to count and ran back to the left of the doorway they came from.

"JOREY!" Sansa screamed.

"We are under attack!" Vayon Poole shouted

Arya stabbed one and Vayon Poole cut down two men in half

"They are after the book!" Vayon shouted before he lunged at a man who was hefting a massive brick of a book towards the dark door and cut his head off.

Sansa had a sudden realization that Varys was standing next to her now, his face a mask of fear and shock. He stretched out his right arm and from his billowing sleave something shot out.

A small feathered dart sprouted from the chest of Vayon Poole. Sansa let out a wordless scream as Vayon Poole collapsed onto the floor.

As the small men retreated through the dark door with the massive book, Arya turned to face Varys who had managed to wrap his hands around Sansa without her noticing.

"Drop your weapon my lady." Varys ordered her sister politely. He pulled back the sleave of his left hand as he talked, revealing muscular forearms that was adorned by a black bracelet that had something sharp sticking out of it.

"You wouldn't dare." Arya said with a certainty Sansa wasn't sure where Arya got from. sansa wanted to scream at her sister that this wasn't the time to be playing games.

"Hurt my sister and I will kill you, it is better for you to surrender." Hints of uncertainty crept into Arya's confident face as she said it. If Varys valued his life he would have surrendered, but do men who were gelded value their lives? Sansa wasn't sure.

"You are wise beyond your years lady Arya but let me teach you of the another way this encounter will end." Varys held out his hand pointing towards her little sister.

"NO!" Sansa screamed as Varys moved his fingers in a strange way, the black device on his hand made a thumping noise and Arya was knocked off her feet.

Varys picked Sansa up and slung her over his shoulder like a sack of rice. Sansa kicked the air pointlessly as her tears fell on the floor.

"Well, well, well. I never knew I would see this. What could a eunich possibly want from a fair maid?" Sansa heard the voice of Syrio Forrel say.

"Drop the little lady." Jorey commanded.

Sansa couldn't see it but from his sleeve Varys produced a dagger.

"Is that the best you can do? Are you out of tricks Lord Varys?" Jorey asked him with a chuckle

"Go ahead cut her ass with that dagger." Syrio challenged him.

"NO!" Sansa screamed.

"I think that you will soon realize that letting me take Sansa now and ending the fighting now is a far more pleasant way to lose than to wait until all your friends and Lord Stark die in battle. The Lannisters outnumber your Allies two to one." Varys told them without a hint of fear in his voice.

"I've fought under worse odds eunich." Jorey replied.

"I see you have made your decision, I will try to save as many of you as I can." Sansa could sense a hint of grief in his voice.

Sansa fell to the carpeted floor as Varys was suddenly no longer under her. She saw the floor come up to her face, and then she was under it. from the home above Sansa could make out the face Syrio Forel and soon he was gone too as ran through a door into darkness.

**Jorey Cassel**

Jorey saw the man fall through the floor. Syrio rushed up to the hole.

"I didn't know that was there." He heard Syrio say.

Arya's dress of steel rings and padded cloth meant she survived with just a broken collar bone, Vayon Poole wasn't as lucky.

The stone door in the solar could only be opened from the inside so Vayon Poole had seen no need to wear any armour while he sat safe in the solar. Now his friend was paying the price for his carelessness.

Vayon was trying to cough up words when Jorey told Arya to bring Jeyne upstairs.


	5. A Leaf in the wind

Leaf

The one known as Leaf let go of the the root and watched it return to it's original position with a twang.

Bloodraven wasn't working again. Even the werewood can no longer preserve the rotting nerves of the powerful human warg.

The children needed a new three eyed Raven, and they had already chosen one. She was born weak, sickly and small compared to her other siblings. The physical disparity between herself and her older sister estranged their relationship, which resulted in her turning to the manly arts of violence to build up the confidence that was diminished by her short stature. The girl would have been perfect, she was rebellious and brave, when the time came she would have defied her wary father and ventured north willingly. Beyond the frozen wall she would find the children, take pity on them and help them in order to gain glory. To become the heroin of the new age, the new Nymeria. She was selfish and arrogant but her arrogance will leave her blinded by those that appear weak, and in need of help. She would seek vengeance on those that harmed her and she would seek vengeance for the children as well, all of her own free will.

But then another was born. One that was unlike any warg that has come before, and perhaps one that the world would never see the likes of ever again.

He was born strong, destined to be tall, broad shouldered and brave. At first glance one would not think him to be a warg, but on closer observation his abilities become evident. Unfortunately the boy was too entertained by his physical capabilities to give his other gifts a chance to shine.

Luckily his physical strengths were taken away and now he sees the world differently. He finally let bloodraven into his dreams but he is still too loyal to his father to come north willingly.

His dire wolf had confirmed what they all believed. The boy was a powerful warg. But Leaf's optimism gave way to dread when it dawned on her that the boy's power was beyond her comprehension. It was an exciting revelation, but one that had a sinister edge. If the boy was not treated properly, he could turn on them and destroy everything that the children had worked for. He must never learn the true extent of his powers before he is merged with the werewood net.

Leaf turned her focus back onto the outerworld and stared at the corpse of a man that had died long ago. She formed her hand into a fist and tapped him on the thin pale skin of his forehead.

The corpse stirred, taking a painful yawn, dislocating his jaw before moving it back to it's proper place. Leaf needed the thing to be working properly when the boy arrived. _Oh well, at least he will think it's only **just** dying_.

The warging corpse was the life's work of Leaf's master, Bramble. The previous tree whisperer. There was a time when the children had lost all hope for revenge. A time when the children were resigned to hide away and accept extinction. All that changed with the creation of the three eyed raven. The children had known for a long time that warging abilities could be amplified when the neural network of the flesh is combined with the root system of the weirwood.

For all intents and purposes all who underwent the process entered the afterlife, only a cold moving corpse remained writhing in agony. It worked well with children, but Bramble realized the system was more powerful with a human body. Unfortunately very few humans were eligible for the process. Bloodraven was the only human bramble found with warging abilities that was almost as good as that of one of Leaf's kin. It took a great deal of trickery and cunning to lure the old man to this cave, and after that his lust for power did him in. The roots festered and grew out from within him and his men were slaughtered in the middle of the night when they stripped themselves of their armour.

Her mind melded with the preserved neural synapses of the corpse. Leaf flitted through the eyes and ears of the forest as she made her way towards King's landing. she was a sparrow, then a squirrel, then a seagull, then a dear, then the wolf that was hunting the deer. Leaf visited the mind of the direwolves, each an unwilling servant in her plans, seeing what they had seen. With the exception of Nymeria and ghost, the rest of the wolves were all in winterfel. Their masters unaware of how events were unfolding in the south.

Leaf became a common boar, then an eagle, then a doe trapped in a snare, waiting for the hunters to find her. Leaf took over and all fear of pain the doe had was replaced by Leaf's resolve. The deer pulled against the rope with all it's might using such an effort that the deer almost died. The skin peeled off it's leg. Such a pain would have stopped a lesser warg but Leaf continued undaunted making sure the wolves would find the deer before the humans did.

Leaf became a common cow, a tall stag, then a sheep, looking upon the walls of King's landing.

Leaf fluttered above the clash of steel in the ground below. She had sped towards the carnage where the rest of her kin fled away from it. She was flying towards the cause of the conflict, the heart of the human capital.

Somewhere in these unnatural stone walls, Eddard was struggling for his life. Leaf didn't want him to be here so soon. The stag that killed the direwolf was meant to be a warning, but Eddard was a stubborn man and the events of Robert's rebellion had made him distrust in prophecy. Howland Reed, the green seer, had also lost faith by the end of the war, for he had seen too much to naively believe in the miracles Leaf had promised him. Thankfully his son is more malleable. And rebellious.

Leaf perched on the balcony of the King's bedchamber. Where the battle down below failed to unnerve her the royal bedchamber made her bowels release. She blinked, turned her head this way and that, but the image before her did not shift.

A silver-eye hawk swept down and landed on the pigeon with deadly force, through it's eyes Leaf saw it with a clarity impossible for any other animal. She saw the corpse of Robert Baratheon, walking, breathing and cursing. The hawk couldn't comprehend the words that the humans were speaking.

Plucking the feathers of the pigeon helped Leaf cope with the sight. Robert Baratheon should have been dead. Leaf had personally pulled out the entrails out of the King and the doves had watched his final breath. Her plan appears to be put on hold. The humans need to be in worse condition for the brewing conflict between humans and Others to amount to anything substantial. With Robert as King, Ned has full support of the South. Leaf did not know how Robert was reanimated but she needed to alter her plans.

She rushed back to her own mind, a little too quickly for her own good this time. The jumps between forest creatures was disorientating enough in regular circumstances but now she almost got lost. She returned to the cave only to stare at her face through bloodraven's eyes.

She called for the Oracle.

"The trees speak for you, whisperer." The Oracle received her memories and deciphered the meaning." It seems the Red God has chosen a champion." His verdict meant the situation was worse than she thought.

" It seems your schemes have been foiled." The voice replaced Leaf's panic with rage.

"You speak too brazenly old king of mine. You're lineage brought appeasement to the humans and ruin to us.

Do not let your fear cloud my judgement. Ned Stark would have been a good ally against the Red God but Rhollor must still face the Lannisters then the Others. And if they survive, winter would claim them.

When spring comes and the corpses thaw, I will lead my people to walk the surface once again. And we shall feast on your flesh as a means to lessen the sting of our shame."


End file.
